Orphanage

When Amanda took a small student expedition to Zambia in 2016, it marked the beginnings of a very special venture. Her plan was to build an orphanage to house Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in rural Zambia.  Amanda has already achieved a great deal by building the orphanage and has since taken charge of the charity school of 400 students too—the Itala Foundation—which was entrusted to her by its founder, Tony Forster. Thanks to the hard work of all those involved, the school and orphanage now collectively boast almost 1,500 children and 26 staff members. Education is not free in Africa, despite the widespread poverty of its population, and so the project gives these children something that they would otherwise never be able to enjoy. These figures alone, along with the astonishing £100,000 raised since 2016, are testament to what the project has achieved so far.

What Next

There is ongoing work on an additional classroom wing, which will house 3 new classrooms when complete. Currently, the school only has 6 functioning classrooms, and is in desperate need of more space; up to 60 children are squeezed into each one, and they have to climb over the desks to get to the back! The Lower and Upper Sixth who went out to Zambia in 2018 worked hard to begin decorating the interior of the new classrooms with lovely paintings and drawings for the children, and they also helped the teaching staff during lessons. Other completed projects include the installation of toilets, water tanks, electricity, and a chicken coop which staff can use to rear and sell chickens to raise extra funds for the school. The Foundation also rents a farm for staff use, which provides produce for the school, as well as another opportunity to make some money.

Photos: Cameron's Orphanage Today/Mkushi Girls